Story+2004-10-02+Cleveland,+OH

“(Michael Stipe: “Wonder what that’s for…please welcome to the stage, Mr. Bruce Springsteen”)(crowd cheers) We have pearls before swine tonight…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Bad Day”**

“(Michael Stipe: “I do love this job…”)”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Man on the Moon”**

“(Michael Stipe: “Thank you all, thank you all very much, we’ll see you again, goodnight”) R.E.M, let’s hear it (crowd cheers)…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, after “Man on the Moon”**

“(Michael Stipe: “Ladies and gentlemen…it is my supreme pleasure to say…please welcome to the stage…Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” (crowd cheers))…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Star Spangled Banner”**

“Good evening, everybody (crowd cheers) thank you, thank you for coming out and supporting Vote for Change (crowd cheers) woo!... uh, thanks so much, I wanna thank R.E.M and Bright Eyes for playing with us, they’ve been so great (crowd cheers) oh, also the most important thing is registration, it ends here four o’clock on Monday and the mail won’t get you there so you gotta go in person and bring a friend, four o’clock Monday, tonight in the hall there are representatives from America Come Together, you can see ‘em with their t-shirts and they can help you register tonight (crowd cheers) so if you haven’t registered, please register to vote, we need you and while you’re at it, you can volunteer to help ACT or MoveOn.Org to get the word out and mobilize voters (crowd cheers) to get us to where we wanna be on November 2nd, thank you, thank you, alright…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “The River”**

“Thanks, it’s my pleasure to bring out now somebody whose music has given me such pleasure for so long…gave me something great to play all those nights that we were playing in the bars (chuckles) one of the great American songwriters, Mr. John Fogerty (crowd cheers)…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Centerfield”**

“(John Fogerty: “Thank you!”) Alright...(John Fogerty: “(?) I’d like to do a new song for you, this song is, uh, my latest record, it’s called “Déjà vu” and I sing this song for families”)…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Déjà vu”**

“Alright, he, uh…he borrows my band, he’s gotta sing one of my songs…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “The Promised Land”**

“John Fogerty!...woo!...that’s fun…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, after “The Promised Land”**

“Thank you, it’s my pleasure to bring up Michael Stipe – Michael, come on up…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Because the Night”**

“Thank you and good evening (crowd cheers) I’m so glad to be here in your beautiful city tonight (crowd cheers) are you having fun? (crowd cheers) that’s good…but tonight, tonight we’re here with a purpose…tonight we’re on a mission (crowd cheers) the mighty E Street Band has risen up to take you down to the river of change and help you to cross over to the other side (crowd cheers) but we’ve got to do it together…now…just to provide a little extra incentive, I’ve studied closely some of the things in the platform of the Democratic Party and I found that if John Kerry is elected, pizza will be delivered to every home at 6 pm sharp every night (crowd cheers) beer will flow freely from the tap of even the most modest American home (crowd cheers) and there will be a ban on cellphone communications (crowd cheers) what we waiting for?...alright…so if you’re swinging, if you’re switching, if you’re swooping, if you’re swaying, if you just can’t make up your mind…or if you’re wearing a bowtie…come forth and be saved – oh, what, wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen, are you registered Republican? (man: “Ah, yes”) (chuckles) are you ready to be healed? (man: “I might be”) ah, everybody say “Haliburton” three times real fast (crowd: “Haliburton, Haliburton, Haliburton”)(man: “I’m switching”) oh (crowd cheers) that’s one!…nothing to it…(goes into the “Are you ready?”-call-and-response-thingy)…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, middle of “Mary’s Place”**

“Gonna bring up Peter Buck and Mike Mills, come on up, boys…from R.E.M, come on up, fellas…that’s a fine shirt, a fine shirt you have on there (chuckles)…woo! alright…my old guitar is finally coming apart (chuckles)…oh, alright, tonight it’s everybody’s favourite part of the show now: the public service announcement (chuckles) oh…I can’t, uh, over-emphasize how important the state of Ohio is to the next election (crowd cheers) and I just…want to remind you again to please register to vote, four o’clock Monday is the deadline, we need every single one of your votes and voices out there…ACT is in the hall tonight, America Come Together, they got it on their t-shirts, they can help you register this evening, please take the time and do so…for we remain a land of great promise but we need to move America towards the fulfilment of the promises that she’s made to her citizens…economic justice, civil rights, protection of the environment, respect for others and humility in exercising our power at home and around the world (crowd cheers) these core issues of American identity are what’s at stake on November 2nd, I believe that Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards understand these important issues and I believe they’re prepared to help our country move forward, please support them (crowd cheers) for America, America is not always right – that’s just a fairytale that I tell my kids at night before they go to bed – but America is always true and it’s in seeking her deeper truths that we find the truest form of patriotism, please don’t settle for anything less…so we’ve got some work to do between now and Election Day, if you share our concerns, find the best way to express yourself, roll up your sleeves, volunteer, get out there and do it and remember: the country we carry in our hearts is waiting…let’s go…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Born to Run”**

“November 2nd, vote for change!...”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, towards the end of “Born to Run”**

“Thank you, Peter and Mike, thank you…come on up, John, John Fogerty, come on up…(John Fogerty: “I just wanna tell you all that these are a great group of people to be working with, these guys are so wonderful”)(crowd cheers)…”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “Bad Moon Rising”**

“Woo, come on up, Mike, come on up, Conor, R.E.M, let’s get everybody out here…the man has got his peejays on already (chuckles) I should have brought my pyjamas (chuckles)…come on, Conor…come on, are you ready?...”
 * 02.10.04 Cleveland, OH, intro to “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understanding”**

//Compiled by Johanna Pirttijärvi//